Cites rejects ivory bid

NAMIBIA has lost its controversial bid to export a yearly quota of 2000 kilograms of ivory.

The country’s proposal was rejected last night at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites). It was considered amidst fierce opposition by trade and wildlife activists, Permanent Secretary of Environment and Tourism Malan Lindeque told The Namibian from Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday.They fear permitting the trade will threaten the existence of the African elephant.Lindeque said he did not view the rejection as a setback for Namibia.He said Government could consider exploring other options and would have to reconsider its approach before submitting a proposal to Cites again.”The many problems on regional trade and basic enforcement [of regulations], make them [Cites] weary of accepting Namibia’s proposal,” he said.While Namibia’s request to sell goods made of ivory, such as jewellery, was thrown out along with that of South Africa’s, it will be permitted to start up trade in goods made from elephant leather and hair.Kenya was a major opponent of Namibia’s proposal, citing severe poaching in that country during the 1970s and 1980s.Some lobbyists feel that allowing that type of trade could make their countries vulnerable to poaching.Namibia, Botswana and South Africa were granted permission for a one-off sale of about 60 tonnes of ivory at the 2002 Cites meeting.However, to date this has not happened, partly because a system to monitor illegal elephant killings is not fully operational yet.Kenya maintains that the 1989 ban on the global trade stemmed the slaughter of its elephants and poachers would be tempted to launder “dirty” ivory with fresh legal supplies.Namibia has an elephant population of about 14 000.It based its proposal on the argument that money raised from ivory trade would generate much-needed support for elephant conservation projects.Rural communities suffer damage to property and crops from elephants.Namibia has submitted seven proposals to the Cites meeting.So far the meeting has accepted Namibia’s requests for a hunting quota for black rhino, an increase in the leopard export quota, a convention on sustainable biological diversity and the international protection of the indigenous Hoodia plant.Proposals to reduce Namibia’s crocodile population and the removal of the rosy-faced lovebird from the list of endangered species have not been discussed yet.It was considered amidst fierce opposition by trade and wildlife activists, Permanent Secretary of Environment and Tourism Malan Lindeque told The Namibian from Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday.They fear permitting the trade will threaten the existence of the African elephant.Lindeque said he did not view the rejection as a setback for Namibia.He said Government could consider exploring other options and would have to reconsider its approach before submitting a proposal to Cites again.”The many problems on regional trade and basic enforcement [of regulations], make them [Cites] weary of accepting Namibia’s proposal,” he said.While Namibia’s request to sell goods made of ivory, such as jewellery, was thrown out along with that of South Africa’s, it will be permitted to start up trade in goods made from elephant leather and hair.Kenya was a major opponent of Namibia’s proposal, citing severe poaching in that country during the 1970s and 1980s.Some lobbyists feel that allowing that type of trade could make their countries vulnerable to poaching.Namibia, Botswana and South Africa were granted permission for a one-off sale of about 60 tonnes of ivory at the 2002 Cites meeting.However, to date this has not happened, partly because a system to monitor illegal elephant killings is not fully operational yet.Kenya maintains that the 1989 ban on the global trade stemmed the slaughter of its elephants and poachers would be tempted to launder “dirty” ivory with fresh legal supplies.Namibia has an elephant population of about 14 000.It based its proposal on the argument that money raised from ivory trade would generate much-needed support for elephant conservation projects.Rural communities suffer damage to property and crops from elephants.Namibia has submitted seven proposals to the Cites meeting.So far the meeting has accepted Namibia’s requests for a hunting quota for black rhino, an increase in the leopard export quota, a convention on sustainable biological diversity and the international protection of the indigenous Hoodia plant.Proposals to reduce Namibia’s crocodile population and the removal of the rosy-faced lovebird from the list of endangered species have not been discussed yet.